With the elections done and dusted, the focus has now shifted firmly towards Team India, who are in England for the ICC World Cup 2019, slated to begin from May 30. A large of part of India’s World Cup hopes depend on both Virat Kohli the batsman and also Virat Kohli the captain. Ahead of India’s first warm-up game against New Zealand on Saturday, vice-captain Rohit Sharma spoke about Kohli’s captaincy and the balance of the Indian side. (Schedule, News: Full coverage of ICC World Cup 2019)
In an interview to Times of India, Rohit praised Kohli’s captaincy. “He’s got a great squad. And he’s done a great job as captain in the last couple of years.”
Rohit also spoke about his role in helping Kohli out. “I will be there to play my part whenever he needs my help,” Rohit said.
“I’m happy to play a part in that space. Whatever matters for the team is priority No. 1. I’ll be happy to do whatever is asked of me,” The Indian vice-captain added.Rohit himself has led India well in Kohli’s absence. India won the Asia Cup in UAE last year without losing a match under Rohit’s captaincy.
Speaking about India’s dependency on top 3, Rohit said it is his, Dhawan and Kohli’s job to score in every game.
“I think we have that component, should we need it. But let me put it this way – that onus lies on the top 3. Between me, Shikhar and Virat, it is our job to get that going. Between the three of us, we want to keep doing this as consistently as we can. It’s not like maine kal banaya, aaj tu bana (I scored yesterday, today you do it). The onus will be on us,” Rohit said.
Rohit sounded confident about the variety in India’s bowling attack. “Virat has plenty of options to choose from. He’s got full-time off-spinners, part-time off-spinners, he has medium-pace options, three quicks, left-arm options. The attack that we have is probably the best we could’ve picked,” Rohit said.
India play two warm-up games – against New Zealand (May 25) and Bangladesh (May 28) – before taking on South Africa in their World Cup 2019 opener at Southampton on June 5.